LINTA: IT IS TRAGIC THAT AUTHORITIES IN FBiH DO NOT REACT TO HARASSMENT OF SERBS

BELGRADE, OCTOBER 2 /SRNA/ – The President of the Association of Serbs from the Region, Miodrag Linta, said that the intention of the threatening letter by extremist Dževad Hasić is to send a message to the small number of Serbs in Tuzla and in the Federation of BiH that it would be best for them either to move away or convert to Islam, and that it is tragic that the authorities are not reacting.

Linta assessed that the threatening letter from extremist Hasić, sent from the Tuzla prison to Serbs and the Serbian Orthodox Church /SOC/, is only one in a series of numerous examples of spreading anger, hatred, and intolerance toward Serbs in the FBiH by radical Islamists. He pointed out that the tragic fact is that the authorities are not reacting to these manifestations of hatred and intolerance, doing nothing to prevent such incidents which happen almost on a daily basis. "The remaining Serbs in the FBiH are endangered. Such actions by radical Islamists cause them feelings of distress and a sense of being left to fend for themselves. The goal is to send the message that the few Serbs in Tuzla and in the FBiH are not welcome and that it would be best for them to move away or convert to Islam," Linta told SRNA. He emphasized that the international community bears special responsibility and appealed to its representatives to condemn this act and call on the authorities to sanction such occurrences. Dževad Hasić, already known for threats and vandalistic incursions into Orthodox churches, sent the threatening letter from the Tuzla prison, in which he announced that he would "switch the church bell to vibration". He threatened that he would "convert the priest with the church lamp to Islam so that he could recite the ezan five times a day with the greatest pleasure," and that he would "replace the cross with the crescent and star like in the Al-Aqsa Mosque, with the greeting `Allahu Akbar`".